All Day All Week, Part V

Most college football fans remember the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 1, 2007, for Boise State's Statue of Liberty play on a two-point conversion in overtime that gave them a 43-42 win over Adrian Peterson's Oklahoma Sooners.

It was the play that helped make Ian Johnson popular beyond the football scene. Besides taking in the winning score for Boise State, Johnson capped the night with a nationally televised proposal to his cheerleader girlfriend at the time – now wife – Chrissy Popadics.

What is sometimes forgotten is that Peterson scored the go-ahead touchdown for the Sooners on the first play of overtime with a 25-yard run. Sooners Illustrated takes a look at the last carry of Peterson's career as part of their All Week All Week series.

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Posted by: Tim Yotter
on Sunday, July 04, 2010 at 7:15:00 PM

Jared Allen ‘dominates' Speedo, wants to dominate Saints

Jared Allen recently "dominated a Speedo" and wants to dominate the New Orleans Saints in the NFL nationally televised season opener on Sept. 9.

Allen recently returned from his honeymoon on the Amalfi Coast in Italy and was asked on the Dan Patrick Show if he wore a Speedo when overseas.

"I dominated a Speedo over there. I figure, when in Rome, right? It kind of applies. When in Europe, when in Rome," Allen said, later adding, "Everybody over there was so friendly. We met some people that we'll stay great friends with forever now. They took us in and cooked us dinner. It was phenomenal. But I was laughing because if someone came over to the United States that didn't really speak our language, we're never going to invite them over to our house for dinner."

Frankly, we wouldn't put it past Allen to wear a Speedo. He's worn Zubaz under practice purple practice shorts for a good laugh at practice is good for a humorous locker room antic or two during the season.

Of course, Allen had to be asked if Brett Favre is coming back, but Allen said he doesn't know and doesn't pay much attention to football news in the offseason.

"Hopefully he probably would've told us already if the answer was no," Allen said. "I'll be honest, I don't care when he comes back. Just show up for that opener in New Orleans and we'll beat the tar out of those guys."

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Posted by: Tim Yotter
on Saturday, July 03, 2010 at 1:05:00 PM

The play that put Peterson in purple

Adrian Peterson was on the center of the NFL scouting radar well before he was eligible for the NFL draft. He jumped on the scene as a freshman at Oklahoma and never looked back … until a broken collarbone got some of the top teams in the 2007 draft too concerned about a short-term injury to consider the long-term possibilities.

Sooners Illustrated, Scout.com's Oklahoma site, has been looking back highlights of Peterson's college career all week. The broken collarbone was one of many memorable plays and was one of the featured plays on the site. Here is some of what publisher Joey Helmer had to say about that play:

"Sooner faithful will always recall that dive as Peterson leaped over the goal line and ultimately broke his collarbone, sidelining him for the rest of the regular season and the Big 12 Championship," Helmer wrote. "In total, he missed seven games because of the injury."

And probably fell to No. 7 overall in the draft because of it. And the Vikings remain the beneficiary of that collegiate mistake to this day.

Vikings' faults were exposed before NFC Championship

With hindsight being 20/20, it's amazing how much of a portend the Vikings' Week 15 game against the Chicago Bears was to their NFC Championship Game loss to the New Orleans Saints. Many of the same mistakes were made.

NFL Network ranked the Vikings-Bears game of Week 15 fifth on its list of top games from the 2009 regular season, which was a reminder of the things that went wrong in that 36-30 overtime loss at Soldier Field.

* Bears QB Jay Culter had one of the best games of his shaky first season in Chicago, completing 20 of 35 passes for 273 yards, four touchdowns and one interception, compiling a 108.4 rating. Devin Aromashodu was the main recipient with seven catches for 150 yards. Saints quarterback Drew Brees also had a very solid game against the Vikings, throwing three touchdowns and producing a 106.5 rating against the Vikings in the NFC Championship. Both quarterbacks exposed some coverage issues in Minnesota's defense.

* The defensive pass coverage wasn't the only problem. The special-teams kickoff coverage was also suspect during a year in which that aspect was much improved. Against Chicago, the Vikings gave up 214 yards on seven kickoff returns, easily the most yardage they gave up all season. In the conference championship, the Saints returned six kickoffs for 183 yards.

* Running back Adrian Peterson fumbled at a critical time – in overtime. His fumble on the Vikings' own 39-yard line set up Chicago's winning touchdown, a 39-yarder to Aromashodu. Against the Saints, Peterson was credited with two fumbles and could have easily been credited with another one that occurred during a handoff exchange.

You remember the carnage of the Saints game well, but if you must torture yourself and view the lowlights of the Chicago game, NFL Network has it right here as its No. 5 game of the season.